The Last Empress is set in a hypothetical constitutional monarchy in 2018, and follows the story of a musical actress who marries the emperor. She searches for true love and happiness as she fights her way through palace life, and gets entangled in the murder of the emperor’s grandmother, leading to the demise of the imperial family.[4]

On October 25, 2018 SBS signed individual contracts with the staff of The Last Empress to ensure better working conditions. However, according to the Hope Alliance Labor Union (HALU), the network and the production company SM Life Design Group (SMLDG) violated the contracts when they continued to extend work schedules without consent from workers and ensuring better working conditions.

The HALU also alleged that "from November 21 to 30, the staff (of The Last Empress) had to undergo ten consecutive days of intense filming schedules that lasted for many hours without a single day of rest".[24][25]

^In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between them.[1]